Burning in Water, Drowning in Flames
by Psyche951
Summary: Based off Season 3 Ep 16: The Southern Raiders. Katara's obsession with closure for her mothers death drives her into an adventure with Zuko. Zuko only wished for Katara to understand that he only wants her to accept him as an ally. But as their long adventure gives them more time together, will an emotional Katara and a gentle Zuko's bond get closer than just comrades? Zutara
1. Prologue

**Chapter One**

Prologue

 **A/N** : Theres going to be a few reference going back to the episode but it wont be like a whole written version of The Southern Raiders.

* * *

The campfire reflected off of Katara's blue eyes as her and her friends and...Zuko, circled around it. Katara was warmed from the fire but her blood boiled being near the treacherous ex prince. Hearing him speak made Katara's ears ring and her instant reaction was to grit her teeth and bite her tongue. Every now and then her words would escape her mouth and pour down the atmosphere like venom. But Katara didn't care. She has been holding back her anger long enough. Katara wanted Zuko to know that she was disgusted by the very existance of his being.

How could any of her friends trust him and accept him as if he's never hunted them down or caused them any harm? He's from the fire nation! The eldest son of the Fire Lord himself! He could be infiltrating our group to figure out our weaknesses or secretly send a message to Azula of our whereabouts. Either way, Katara was ready.

Everyone laughed at Zuko's joke but Katara scoffed and stood up. Zuko's golden eyes followed her and he stood up as well and followed Katara. He needed to confront her and ask her what her problem was. (Even though he can name a few on the top of his head). Katara sat on a boulder facing the ocean. Zuko stood a few feet behind her.

"What is it with you? I thought we were passed the aggression when we were imprisoned in Ba Sing Se." Zuko looked at Katara as she whipped around and faced him. Her eyes hardened. As if he didn't know what he did to HER, and most importantly what he did to her friends.

"I was the FIRST one to trust you in Ba Sing Se and you betrayed me! You betrayed all of us. And Im not as forgiving as they are. You can save me from falling buildings and from your crazy sister as many times as you want but I will NEVER forgive you." Katara saw Zuko wince at the memory of his decision.

But that was all in the past. Zuko wanted Katara to understand that he's a completely different person as we was back then. He cared about what she thought of him. Zuko can't continue to bear with her passive aggression and icy cold glares any longer.

"What can I do to make it up to you?" Zuko's golden eyes looked into Katara's. She was furious. Zuko knew that she was finally venting all of her anger onto him. But she wasn't just mad. Katara was merciless.

"You really wanna know? You can try to bring my mother back." Katara walked passed him. Warm tears surfacing on her eyes.

Zuko thought to himself about Katara's feelings.

 _'How can I bring her mother back? What did she say about her mother when we were imprisoned? The fire nation took her away. But I dont know who took her. It could have been any of the invasion fleets my father has scowling around the sea...'_

Zuko looked out into the ocean then walked back to camp to talk to Sokka. The only person who knows how to remedy the situation.


	2. It's A Start

**Chapter 2**

It's a Start

After talking to Sokka, Zuko went to talk to Katara. But it was already late and she had already went to bed. Zuko paced in front of her tent, debating whether to go in and talk to her and continue their conversation. But a list of hypotheticals flashed through his mind.

' _What if she's really angry that I disturbed her sleep and just make her night worse? She's mastered waterbending so she can probably bend the ocean above this cliff and flush me away.'_ Zuko chuckled at the idea. ' _No. Probably not. She's mastered the skill but Katara isn't THAT powerful.'_

Not willing to risk the chance, Zuko sat on the rock in front of her tent and would talk to her as soon as she woke up.

* * *

Katara opened her tent and was surprised to see Zuko sitting up with one knee up and his head resting on his arm. She quickly tried to walk past him to grab her hair brush, but apparently it wasn't fast enough because Zuko startled her when he spoke.

"I waited for you all night." Zuko said as he was rubbing his non-scarred eye.

"Well who told you to do that?" Katara started brushing her hair. Every morning it has been a hassle to brush out her brown mane but it was a price to pay to be safe and not care about pinning it up like she use to do a few years back.

Zuko answered with his signature serious face, "I know how to find the man who took your mother away."

That caught Katara's attention. Her eyes use to burn hatred towards him, but now it was blazed with a new kind of hatred. Revenge.

"How?" Katara's face showed that she was dead serious. Any sort of alternative motive other than to find her mother's murderer would be his very demise.

"Your brother told me the ship was lead by the Southern Raiders. They're known to invade small villages for benders who can potentially be a threat to the Fire Nation." Zuko saw Katara's face of disgust and started packing her belongings.

"You are going to help me find the leader of the Southern Raiders. We leave today. If this is a scam, I'll freeze your balls off." Katara huffed away Zuko followed behind.

' _I know this may be dangerous but she needs this. This isn't about Katara forgiving me anymore. This is an obstacle that has been blocking her from continuing her life.'_

Zuko made a promise to himself, no matter how deep or long this trail goes, he will be there to help Katara find closure.

* * *

That night, Katara and Zuko flew off into the night with Oppa.

Zuko looked out into the ocean, "We need to head east. That's where the Fire Nation's navy tower is at. They control what fleet goes where. But we need to be discreet, if anyone found out we were infiltrating the ships whereabouts, they'll be long gone before we reached them."

"Oh trust me. They wont see me coming. Oppa, yip yip!" Oppa roared as they headed east. Zuko saw the waves of the ocean become bigger and harsher.

"You need to save your strength. It's going to be awhile til we find them. I'll fly the bison while you rest." Zuko was about to jump off the saddle and onto Oppa's neck.

"No. I'll be fine. You go to sleep." Katara didn't bother to look at him.

"Katara, I know how bad you want to find this man but you have to be logical. It's late and you need to rest. It will take about four hours to get to the tower."

"Worry about yourself Zuko. You rise with the sun. I rise with the moon remember?"

"Fine." Zuko layed down and rested his head on his bag. "You know, you can be very stubborn sometimes."

"Why because I won't let you fly Oppa?"

"No, because you wont accept my help." Zuko sat up to look at her. "I agreed to help you because I can empathized what you're going through. I don't know what happened with my mother after she was banished and I don't have any leads as to where she might be. If I knew even a little bit of information about her then I wouldn't rest til I did find out what happened to her. At least with me, you can find the man responsible for killing your mother."

Katara's grip tightened around the rails. "I'm not going to rest. So drop it." Katara said softly.

Zuko sighed. "Fine then. Good night"

* * *

After four hours they reached the navy tower and they found out where the Southern Raiders were stationed at sea.


	3. Tiger Monkeys

**Chapter Three**

Tiger Monkeys

* * *

After finding out where the Sourthern Raiders were stationed, Zuko and Katara landed on an isolated island. Katara objected profusely but Zuko pointed out that Oppa needed to rest and they needed to prepare food to eat. It was close to sunset and luckily Zuko found an open cave near a clear river. He started a campfire while Katara went out to look for more wood. It was a bit before sundown and in the beginning of fall, the daytime has been the perfect weather of 73 degrees but lately at night the temperature dropped down to 30. No wonder the island was deserted.

Katara had a few dry tree branches in her arms but not enough to keep the fire going through the night. She used her bending to cut down branches off an evergreen tree and heard a branch break from a distance.

"Zuko?" Katara stepped a bit closer to the sound. Then she heard the same sound from the opposite direction. And then, something growling.

' _That's not Zuko!'_ Katara mind instinctively panicked and ran. Fast. She didn't care that she dropped the firewood.

She looked back and saw a group of something small jumping from tree to tree. _'Were we followed from the navy tower?'._ Katara bended a thick disc of ice and threw it at one of the shadows. She missed her target but broke the branch and the body landed on the floor. It was a tiger monkey!

The tiger monkey shook off the fall and growled at Katara. It's wounded black eyes stared at Katara and chased her with its fellow members behind him.

"Oh shit!" Katara turned around and ran. Each time she looked back, it seemed as if more and more tiger monkeys were hunting her down.

The farther she ran, the thicker the woods seemed to get. Katara was blinded by the tall bushes that constantly slapped her face, her throat felt like it was on fire but she knew that if she stopped even for a moment to catch her breath, she'd be torn to shreds.

Panicked, Katara inhaled a deep breath and screamed.

"ZUKO! HELP!"

Just then, one of the tiger monkeys razor sharp claws grazed Katara's shoulder. She fell and rolled downhill into a small stream.

Immediately Katara stood up and bent as much water as she can from the stream and stepped into a fighting stance. She can feel warm blood running down to her elbow but she didn't care. Katara ignored the intense pain on her arm and shoulder and looked around. Tiger monkeys surrounded her but didn't move to attack.

Just then one of the members stepped forward. It was the same tiger monkey that Katara wounded. He looked bigger and taller than the rest of the pack.

"You must be the gang leader." Katara chuckled to herself. "I am not going to die here. I have some unfinished business to do before I'm dead."

The leader pounded on his chest and pounced at Katara. She knocked him down using her water bending and froze ice around his body. The other tiger monkeys didn't move but they jumped up and down. encouraging their leader to stand and fight back.

"Not so tough now. Are ya?" Katara walked away.

The leader roared. His voice shook the trees and scared birds from a half a mile radius. Then he broke out of Katara's icy grip and attempted another attack, aiming his claws her neck.

Katara turned around and froze. He was coming at her with great speed, She couldn't dodge it. All she could do is shut her eyes and cover her face.

But the impact never came. Katara opened her eyes and saw a burst of flames. Zuko stood in front of her, eyes shimmering gold. He shot another fire ball past the tiger monkey and aimed it at a bush as a threat. The leader stepped back and ran with the others.

Assuring that the other beasts ran away, Zuko ran to Katara, who fell down to the floor.

"Are you okay?" Zuko saw Katara's top kimono that was usually a pale blue was now stained red on her shoulder. "Oh Agni...what happened?" Zuko pulled off his vest and wrapped it around Katara's arm.

"The giant monkey got me by surprise. How did you find me?" Katara didn't look at him. Her legs felt weak and since her adrenaline faded away, Katara's exhaustion took over her body.

"You were gone for awhile. I went out to look for you and then I heard you scream." Zuko examined her face to see if there were any other damages. She looked pale and he noticed that there were dark circles under her eyes. "You look terrible."

"Thanks." Katara said sarcastically.

Zuko crouched in front of her. "Grab on."

"No. I can walk. My arm is the only thing hurt. I just need clean water to heal myself." Katara tried to stand up but she felt so lightheaded, she stumbled. Zuko sighed and took her good arm over his shoulder and lifted both her legs. "Hey!" Katara was about to object but Zuko interrupted.

"I don't have time to argue. The sun is going down and it's dangerous to walk around here at night with those animals running the woods. So stop being stubborn and just cooperate with me for a bit. We'll get to camp faster this way." Zuko hiked up the hill with Katara grumbling on his back.

The walk was silent. ' _Katara's_ _probably sleeping. I can't imagine how exhausted she must be. No sleep in two days and she's barely eating too. I don't know how she was handling herself with all of those things chasing her.'_ Zuko silently sighed. ' _I might've been too hard on her. This mission was to find the bastard who killed her mother and to earn her trust. Not to add fuel to her resentment towards me.'_

"I'm sorry.." Katara said with her face resting between his neck and shoulder. "I was just...irritated with myself. I was weak when I was getting attacked."

Zuko smiled. "It's okay. I practically invented throwing my anger out onto others. My uncle was the only one who dealt with it. Now he passed his patience down to me."

Katara slightly smiled and closed her eyes. She couldn't sleep because of the paranoia that something will jump out at her again but the scent from Zuko's shirt made her feel at ease. The combination of a campfire, cypress, and lemongrass. It was a very masculine scent that made Katara feel safe.

"Okay Katara, we're here." Zuko walked into the cave and gently laid Katara onto his blanket next to her tent. "I'll be right back. I'm going to get more wood for the fire and the I'll fix us something to eat."

He left and Katara looked at the diminishing campfire. It was getting cold and Katara reflected back on her day.

' _How could've I been so stupid! To get hurt by a giant orange cat and to have Zuko carry me back here. I wish it was a full moon so I could've bend water out of the tree or air or something!'_ Katara sighed and looked at her arm. The blood was drying out and she can feel the stickiness on her skin. Fortunately there was a river where she can bathe and heal.


	4. Pillow Talk

**Chapter Four**

 **Pillow Talk**

* * *

Zuko came back to find Katara missing. He set the firewood at the corner of the cave and peaked into the tent. Empty. Zuko started to wonder where Katara might've gone.

' _Where did she go? She couldn't have gone far, she's hurt...Oppa's still here so she didn't abandon me. Oh Agni...what if she got taken prisoner? Urgh! This day is never ending.'_ Zuko went out to look for her.

Not to far from camp, he found Katara's bloodied top and wrappings on the floor. He looked up and saw Katara was in the river. Her body was bare and her eyes were closed as if she were deep in thought. She slowly walked deeper into the river, submerging her whole body til there was nothing of her on the surface.

"Katara wait!" Zuko dove into the river and held up Katara, bridal style. "You're life is more precious than you think! Your mother didn't sacrifice herself for no reason! Don't throw your life away and kill yourself!"

Katara's eyes were wide and she instantly raised her hand and slapped him across the face. Zuko was caught by surprise and dropped Katara back into the water. He stepped back touching his cheek.

"You idiot!" Katara's face was completely red. Zuko saw her red face and his eyes wandered and noticed her flush face didn't stop at her neck. It ended at her chest. "Don't look, you pervert!"

Katara raised both her arms and a giant wave washed Zuko to the shore. He got up and turned his back at her.

"So I probably assumed something I shouldn't have.." Zuko rubbed his temples.

"No kidding! Go back to camp, Stupid!" Katara grabbed her bloodied clothes off the floor.

"Okay okay." Zuko walked away. Katara can see from the back of his head that both his ears were red.

* * *

Katara walked back to camp wearing her tight pants and top wrappings. Her kimono was in her hands. Zuko sat in front of the campfire, poking it with a stick. He still couldn't look at Katara in the face because of their previous...incident. But he heard her sitting next to him.

"Sorry..." Zuko said. Still not looking at her.

"It's fine." Katara was digging around in her bag looking for her sewing kit. "What made you think I was trying to end my life?" She said casually.

"Well...um...you were uh..." Zuko tried to find the right words. "You've been acting kind of...emotional lately. And I just thought that earlier today with the pack of killer tiger monkeys chasing you, I assumed that triggered or set you over the edge." Zuko looked over at Katara, hoping he didn't sound like a lunatic. "Something along the lines of that."

"Nope. I was just bathing myself and healing my injury." Katara held up her kimono top. "And washed my shirt. Nothing self destructive."

"Yeah again. Sorry." Zuko felt a bit awkward.

"Let's just agree to never bring it up again. Ever." Katara glared at Zuko. She finished stitching her kimono and tied it back on. "But if I was ever going to, you know, self destruct like that, I wanna thank you for saving me."

"No problem. How's your shoulder?" Zuko relaxed and quickly changed the subject.

Katara thanked him. Seems like every time Zuko thinks he's doing something wrong, something good came out of it. He laughed to himself. Sounds like something his uncle Iroh would say.

"Fine. A bit sore but not bad." Katara moved her shoulders around.

"That's good. Can't imagine what Aang would do to me if you got hurt."

Katara's eyes narrowed. "What does that mean?"

Zuko flinched, "Well arent you two...going out?"

"No. Why does everybody always think that?" Katara huffed.

"Because you guys seem really close. It doesn't matter to me if you two are or not but you do seem really protective of him. And he obviously really cares about you." Zuko sighed. "And I know a thing or two about caring for someone. You'd want to protect them at all cost, even when you know they can handle their own. Aang shows all the signs. He likes you."

"Maybe he does. Maybe he doesn't. I care about him a lot too as in looking out for him. That's what friends do, we look out for each other."

Zuko looked at Katara. "You have my back some times. Does that mean we're friends?"

Katara didn't expect a question like that coming from him. She looked into his golden eyes for an answer. They look so...genuine and warm. The last time Katara had a good look into his eyes was when he held her hostage. Back then they were so cold and frightening. But now, Zuko's eyes have a hold onto Katara's, she couldn't look away. The flames from the fire made Zuko's eyes glow like a sunset. His gaze drew her closer to him.

Katara inched closer to Zuko, and without thinking, Zuko's head came closer to Katara's. They were a breath away from each other, but before anything happened, Katara stood up.

"I'm exhausted." She walked into her tent and flopped onto her cot.

 _'Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! What just happened?! Or was about to happen? That could've been a HUGE mistake. I don't even know if I should trust him.'_ Katara breathed in and let out a heavy sigh. ' _I'm just exhausted and that impaired my decision. And A LOT has happened today. I'm probably just over thinking and should just sleep it off.'_ And just then, Katara fell asleep feeling butterflies in her stomach.

* * *

 **A/N: Thanks for reading this far guys! This is my first fanfic and Zutara story. So please leave a review if you think it's good or bad. I can take criticisms or better yet, COMPLIMENTS :)**


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